Freight-car door.



No. 692,937. Patented Feb. H, I902.

S. J. SMITH.

v FREIGHT OAR DOOR. I (Ap pliatinn med mm 0, 1900.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT @EEICE.

STANSBURYJAOOB SMITH, or PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS.

FREIGHT-CAR coon.

IFIC forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,937, dated. February 11,1902 I Application filed November 9, 1900; Serial ll'o. 35,935. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it Hwy-concern.-

Be it known that I, STANSBURY JACOB SMITH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Pine Bluff, in the county of Jeiferson and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and useful Freight-Oar Door, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in freight-car doors.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction offreight-car doors and to provide a simple and inexpensive one which willbe spark-proof and which will not swing inward and outward in lookingand unlocking it, but will be adapted to move over a smooth surface ofthe car in sliding it to and from the door-opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of this characterwhich will not require the door-opening to be framed in order to securea spark-proof structure.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a carprovided with a car-door constructed in. accordance with this invention.Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4are similar views on lines 3 3 and 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontalsectional view of the upper portion of the car, illustrating thearrangement of the beveled tongues of the door.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

1 designates a sliding freight-car door supported by hangers 2 and 3 andsuspended from a longitudinal track 4, extending horizontally along theside of the car 5, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the accompanyingdrawings. The car 5 is provided with a dooropening, and it has anabutting strip or bar 6 at one side of the-opening to be engaged by thefront vertical edge of the door when the latter is closed, and the restof the exterior surface of the car over which the sliding doorv moves issmooth. The door overlaps the side of the car sufliciently at each sideof i the door-opening to effect a tight joint and to obviate thenecessity of framing the dooropening and the consequent swinging of thedoor inward and outward to arrange it within such a framework and toremove it therefrom. The track 4 is provided at its outer face with anupwardly-extending longitudinal flange 7, and the lower body portion ofthe track is provided at its inner edge with openings or recesses 8 and9, arranged to receive beveled tongues or projections 11 and 12 of thedoor when the latter is closed, whereby the door is firmly interlockedwith the track.

-When the door is closed, it is moved vertically by the meanshereinafter described to carry the tongues 11 and 12 into the recessesof the track, and the beveled ends of the said tongues form guides fordirecting the tongues into the recesses,'and they cause the door to bedrawn tightly against the track. The tongues also operate to resist anylongitudinal movement of the door when the latter is closed, and theythereby relieve the locking device, hereinafter explained, of strain.

The hanger 2, which is secured to the door near the front end thereof,is provided with a rearwardlyextending hook-shaped upper portion 13,forming a housing for a roller 14 and extending downward and rearwardbehind the upwardly-extending flange 7 of the track 4. The roller isprovided at its outer end with a beveled flange 15, which is arranged toengage the track and cause the door'through gravity to force itselfoutward sufficiently to clear the'outer face'of the track and preventthe hangers from binding'against the same when the door is opened andclosed. The bevel of the tongues, whichare located at the inner face ofthe door, draws the latter inward'tightly when the said door is locked.

The hanger 3, which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, isprovided with a hook-shaped upper portion 16', having a beveled innerface 17, arranged approximately in the same plane as the lower portionofthe beveled flange of the pulley l4 and adapted to operate in a similarmanner to free the door sufficiently to enable it to slide smoothly-onthe track without binding against the same.

The door is provided at its lower edge with wear-plates 18 and 19,approximately L- shaped in cross-section and adapted to be engaged byarms -20 and 21 of a rock-shaft 22, which is adapted to force the doorupward to carry the tongues of the top of the door into the recesses ofthe track. The rock-shaft, which is journaled in suitable bearings ofthe car at the bottom of the door, is provided with acentraloperating-arm 22',and the plates 18 and 19 are arranged on the frontface and bottom edge of the door, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. Thearm 22 is provided at its outer end with a loop 23, and itis adapted tobe arranged on a staple 24 and to be secured and sealed in any suitablemanner.

The door is engaged at its lower edge by suitable catches 25, hinged attheir rear ends at 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and provided at theirouter ends with lips or flanges 27 for engaging the front face of thedoor when the latter is closed. The swinging catches 25, which may bemounted in any suitable manner and which are engaged by the arms at theends of the rock-shaft, are preferably hinged to the side sill 28 of thecar and are arranged in suitable recesses 29 v to provide the necessaryplay'or movement to engage the flange with and disengage it from thedoor when the latter is elevated and to also allow for theverticalmovement of the door. The rear or hinged end of the catch ispreferably bent downward to form a flange 30 to engage the inner face ofthe sill to re lieve the pintle of the hinge of strain when the car-dooris subjected to pressure from within the car. When the operating-arm ofthe rock-shaft is swung downward, the door is lowered sufficiently todisengage the tongues from the recesses or openings of the track and thehinged catches drop out of engagement with the lower edge of the door.The car is provided with suitable guide-brackets 31, arranged to preventthe door from swinging outward from the car.

It will be seen that the freight-car door is exceedingly simple andinexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to make a sparkproofjoint or connection without framing the door-opening and without theswinging move ment incident to such construction, and that the side ofthe car presents a smooth surface to the door. It will also be apparentthat when the door is closed it is firmly interlocked with the track andthat when the door is unlocked its weight frees it from the track andprevents it from binding against the same in sliding longitudinallythereof. Furthermore, it will be apparent that when the door is unlockedand is moved away from the openings or recesses of the track the tonguesor projections will lie below the said track and will prevent the doorfrom becoming disengaged from the same; also, when the hinged catches atthe bottom of the door move upward their engaging ends swing inwardtoward the car and cause the door to be clamped tightly against thesame. When the hinged catches move downward or backward, their engagingportions swing outward, slightly to free the door and they drop out ofengagement with the same.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details ofconstruction within the scope of the appended claims .may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof this invention.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a car, of a track mounted on thecar and provided at its inner face with openings, a car-door providedwith beveled tongues arranged to engage the inner faces of the track atthe openings, and hangers suspending the car-door from the track,substantially as described. I

2. The combination with a car, of a track having an opening, a car-doorcapable of vertical movement and provided with a tongue arranged toengage the opening, a hanger suspending the car-door from the track, andmeans for raising the door, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a car, of a track having an opening, a doorhaving a tongue to engage the opening, and a hanger having a beveledface arranged to engage the track whereby the said hanger is adapted toclear the outer face of the track, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a car, of a track mounted thereon, avertically-movable cardoor, and a suspending device arranged to run onthe track and carrying a beveled face located above the track when thedoor is closed and in an elevated position and arranged to engage thetrack and move the door outward when the latter is lowered,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination with a car having a track, of a door, and a hangersuspending the door from the track and provided with a roller having abeveled flange at its outer end arranged to force the hanger slightlyfrom the track to preventbinding, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

6. The combination with a car, of a track mounted thereon, a car-doorprovided with hangers to engage the track and capable of verticalmovement, said door being provided with means for interlocking it withthe track when it is raised, and means for raising the car-door,substantially as described.

7. The combination with a car having a outward from the interior of thecar and 10-.

cated beneath and capable of engaging the bottom of the car-door, and arock-shaft jourand provided with inner and outer flanges arranged toengage the car and the door, and means for operating the catch and thedoor, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my ownI'have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

STANSBURY JACOB SMITH.

Witnesses:

JNo. L; MILLS, HENRY ROBERTS

